Applications of superconductivity to packaging

The properties of superconductors are reviewed, and the potential applications of high-temperature superconductors to interconnect technology are examined. Comparison with interconnects composed of normal metals is made. The effect of source and load impedances on both types of interconnect is discussed. Examples are presented in which the use of superconductors can significantly improve digital systems; however, they involve much more than the simple substitution of superconductors for copper. Modeling results show that if all copper interconnects in the ETA-10 liquid nitrogen supercomputer were replaced by superconductors, the computer would not run any faster. It is argued that imaginative use of superconductors will eventually have a major impact on digital systems, nevertheless. Two possibilities are the use of a superconducting ground plane and a high-bandwidth superconducting bus.>